Over years of volunteering with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Manvel resident Terry Smith noticed that there was a lack of outdoors events for the disabled community.
Smith, whose daughter Jennifer has Down syndrome, began working with TPWD’s angler education group to plan outreach events at schools. “We took live crabs from Sea Center Texas, dead fish, backyard bass, skins and skulls, just different things to get the kids involved,” he says.
In 2021, he worked with Sea Center Texas to host a fishing event. It was a hit with the participants. The next year, TPWD partnered with Special Olympics to make the event a statewide contest.
On Oct. 7, TPWD will team up with Special Olympics of Texas and Fishing’s Future to host the third annual fishing tournament at Sea Center Texas for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The tournament will take place in Lake Jackson, and will host 100 participants — twice as many as in 2022.
Last year’s tournament brought in anglers from across the state. Many of the participants had never fished before. The excitement of catching their first fish brought smiles to the faces of the anglers and tears to the eyes of the parents, coaches and volunteers who were cheering them on.
A crew of volunteer coaches and instructors worked three ponds at the hatchery, providing different levels of assistance based on the needs of participants. Almost immediately after the tournament started, anglers began reeling in redfish, black drum and sheepshead.
Clay, a Special Olympics athlete, caught a 35-pound redfish in the 2022 event. His stepfather, Bryan, was moved to tears.
“Clay has been chasing his redfish for about six years,” Bryan says. “All he wants is pictures of one he caught so he can have a mount made. Today… he got his redfish, and for Christmas he’s going to get a mount.”
The 2022 tournament concluded with an awards ceremony, where every participant received a new spinning rod and a free pair of water shoes from Crosskix.
Before the tournament, some families expressed that fishing seemed like a near-impossible activity. Afterwards, excited families were already planning their next fishing outing.
“They were just so happy,” Smith says.
